Little Falls transcript., 1887-03-04
AMONG THE M MORMons,.s
Descrlpt on of the salt Lave TAbernac1s
II and the Servieea tse,i Til4rein.


ssTspt vis:tsd, aIilsng o.liss # ntsra
at Salt Lake tI;ityy. til, tIaDe -naele, whsrs
the religious serves ara 5hsA A eorisng
to her description the bnisd NJ is s,isrount-
sei by q high wall which insloses very
large space, within which tns EnloW ment
House and the new tempe, t.isn III process
5of erection, also stand. Tie tauernaelc Is
an enormous buitding, elliptic IN shape.
built Of Wu I'd an with a rs.,lI froof, i sup
ported ON i.hsny colanins, Wh,cn surround
the extsrior Of the i,uil ling Thsre are iI
Incredible numb r of exits, an | though the
building he lls twelve thousand people, we
were assurad t.l;.t in on minute and half
it could he emalled. Shabby as was the
exterior of the ,fnpainted building. the in-
terror was even more ,drea v The roof,
was thickly hung with garlanasi which
were green six years ago when thay were
hung in honpr Of some special ceremony,
and paper flowers OF the same date were
scattered profuse!y about There is wide
gallery running round thre, sides Of the
building, and the floor slopes such man
ner as to allow those sittlns in tho rear to
command a good view of the pulpits. The
body Of the tabernacle is occupied by ordi-
nary paws, but in the middle Of the build
ing is q large tank, guarded by four terra
Gotta beasts, which we were told were
lions During the SERVICES a fountain
springs from the center OF the tank. I
could not learn the Significance of this nov
: el feature if significance it nas One lady
told me that they ''thought it pleasant
thing to have fountain play ing during
services, so-they had it," Were the tab
ernacle a temperance stronghold, this lioa-
ton would have seemed more appropriate.
At one end Of the building is a>platform
with three tables, one above the other,
which are called pulpits. At the highest
one sit the presi lent and two of his coun-
cilors; the second one is reserved for the
twelve apostles, and ON the loves. the
communion is administered every Sunday,
, wator being substituted for wine. AT the
hotel we had met with a gentleman OF He
brew extraction who, in describing the
services which he had witnessed on the
previous Sunday, said: Aud then the
apostle broke bread up into little silver
cups, which they handed round among the
congregation. AS the people all took some
Of these refreshments, I followed their
example, though what it all meant !
couldn't ind ont for the life Of me-"
On each side of the pulplts were num-
Der of benches, which the g lardian told US
"were reserved for those Of the brethren
who were hard Of hearing." At the back
Of the platform stands the organ, which is
the glory and pride of the saints, who
claim that it is only second in size among
American organs. 1t is really very hand
some, rcfeating "reat cro''it ON the native
designer, for the ~ntira or""! was made at
Salt Lake City. The acoustic properties OF
the tabernacle are very ,5markable.
StatdiuG ,.u a. Ok ..e End of the gat
1cry, we heard pa Arop upon the plat
form and the sound Of low whisper with
perfect distinctions. At convenient point
stand several large barrels OF water with
tin cups attached, for the benefit of the
thirsty ones in the assembly. The relig'
ious exercises are held in the tabernacle
on Sunday. They consist OF the singing OF
hymns prayer from the president and {
sermon from some one Of the apostles
The subjects treated from the Mormon
pulpit cover a very wide range, including
all temporal as well as spiritual points o
interest. A writer on this subject says
SIN the great t.; bernAcle one will near scr
mons or advice on the cultr re Of sorghum
infant baptism, upon the best manure TO
cabbages, upon the perseverance, Of tn
saints, upon the wickedn2ss Of the skim
ming Of milk be fore it's sale upon the bes
method Of cleaning water bitches, upon bed
bug poison, upon the price OF real estate
upon the teeth Y OF children, upon tn
martyrs and prosecutions of the Church, tel
rible denunciations OF Geutiles and th
enemies of the Mormons, upon olive OIL a.
a cure for measles, upon the ordination o
the priesthood, upon the character Of Mel
chsidec, upon abstinence from plug tobac
co, upon chignOns, upon twenty -hve-yar
dresses, upon plural marriage, etc.,
OF the teaching Of Christ and his follow
ers little is said or thought among the VI II
mons They accept tho w Testamen
tacitly, but Joseph Sm tn was thei
prophet, tho Bouk of Mormon a later rev
elation and from it and the Old Tes';
ment the texts of their liscourses az
taken Abraham is the spiritual characte
most dear to them, and Sarah is the won
an who is held up as shining light to tn
''sisters of the Church"
Leaving the Tabernacle, our. next Wis
was to the new temple a b ,autiful builc
ing then in process Of erection. Tne mate
rial used in it's construction is q peculia
black ana white granite quarrled from on
of the mountains near by. This editice
to be reserved for the "nlore sacred rite
Of baptism and endowment" We learned
marking that the ceremony of sealin
the marriage ceremony, is considere
by them more sacred than tn
services in praise of the Crt
ator. The ceremony of endowment is on
that no Gentle is allowed to witness. Q
asking ono Of the Mormon ladies whom "
met tho nature of it's rites, she said: "1l
ceremony Of sealing differs from the ma
riage ceremonies in the world, in this pa
ticular--that with US it unites the husban
and wife throughout all eternity, instee
of being only for time, and consequent
is termed celestial maria }. The wife
VOW OF obedience to her husband is NJ
included in the ceremony at all, so that
differs in this particular also" We wei
anxious to hear concernin4 the marrias
garments worn on these occasions but OF
Mormon friend on this point was not !
communicative. " You know somethin
- perhaps, of Masonry" shs said, ''ws ho
these things sacred-they areworn only
ii the altar, and are used in burial Tn;
are very suitable and certainly uniqu
the pattern having been given by revel
tion to Joseph Smith, our first prophet
BY this answer our curiosity was rath
stimulated than satisfied, AMI we felt a
sire to ask it the marriage garment was
+ y ! coming as well as appropriate, but pollt
% ness forbade the question. ....,.,.
80 ~ - - --------- - : p
"a s5 The BABY and the Scales. i.
- 4 Waterbury mother weighed her ne,
born babe each week after birth, and w;
much gratifed to note a regular increa
ss Of pound and q half each week. Tn
week, however, no gain was perceptibl
y and the mother took alarm, and with it Il
conceit that the child was pale and thi
Her husband let in q food OF light upon h
disturbed mind when he pointed out til
the baby had passed the limit Of the seal
and could not show further increase.
ss1 a She Ksassss s1ie lsesta ss,nt Z
According to % ~ .fsss3ass sff5; sost a ]
F tie six-vear.nfd s9-;SFl 4 Sua at1r %,